7 min read
The challenge
The following is a use case based on the actual facts of one of our clients, which will help you get an idea of the usefulness of our smart insights platform. Find out how to conduct a successful brand repositioning and how to define a solid marketing strategy for a new target market.
We place the utmost importance on our client’s privacy and confidentiality, therefore we won’t be disclosing their identity.
A dairy product producer sees their sales plummet due to the underlying financial situation, the massification of their product category, and the little differentiation within it. To face the problem, the company goes for a selective and exclusive strategy based on supporting its ‘healthy’ brands and deprioritizing the rest, halting all investments going into them.
The brand’s target audience in the countries it operates in has always been the mothers of children under 10 years old and its communication has always been focused on the benefits of its products for their health, but after seeing their numbers steadily drop the brand rethinks its communication strategy.
It will need to find out if its target consumers have changed and, if so, what their interests are to approach them effectively.
The brand repositioning process
The brand launches a study to their current target asking them about their purchase intent and consumption habits to find out why their products’ sales have dropped.
The problem comes down to the fact that when mothers go to the supermarket they focus on buying products for the whole family and their priority is to fill the fridge with products offering the best value. If children don’t ask for the brand’s products, their mothers won’t buy them.
On the other hand, if their children ask them for a specific brand, they will. The influence that children have over their parents is known as Pester Power.
In light of the results, the brand decides to center its communication strategy on children and, therefore, must find a way to catch their attention and stay away from the messages it used in the past (focused on health and sports).
To determine the best way to penetrate this new target, the brand launches a second study asking mothers what their children’s lives are like and how they spend their free time. Results show that children’s days are all alike: go to school, do extracurricular activities, do homework, have dinner, sleep, and repeat, making routine their worst enemy.
Based on this information, the brand comes up with a new concept to reach its new market segment and link it to the pain point found in the study. Routine has a prominent place in consumers’ lives, so the brand decides to make it the core of its communication strategy and help them break it.
With its new target (children) in mind and an interesting value proposition in hand (breaking their routine), the brand decides to launch a third study to discover its consumers’ favorite brands and use that information to pinpoint the ideal product to launch and which ones are more in-sync with the brand image.
After studying the results, a brainstorming session is conducted during which a series of collaborations between brands are suggested to create a new product. To check if the co-branding ideas that come up have any potential, a study is carried out via which consumers are asked which brand combinations they find most attractive and wouldn’t hesitate to purchase.
Based on the most noteworthy suggestions, the brand outlines and designs 2 pilot products with which it conducts a new study to determine the interest and purchase intent for them.
Examples of questions included in the study
- Who eats it at home
- When deciding to buy a product, what does your child consider the most important aspect of it is?
- Which are his/her favorite brands? Choose two of the following brands.
- Do you think your child would like these 2 brands to launch a product together?
- From 0 to 10, how willing would you be to purchase the product resulting from the collaboration?
Results
The brand gets essential insights thanks to the 5 conducted studies and the direct consequences are:
- Online and offline campaign launch to present the new image, far from the family values the brand has in other countries and focused on its new target: children.
- Creation of a fictional character and online content to help break the routine.
- A rewards program for purchasing the brand’s products, giving children a chance to acquire the new fictional character’s merchandise: a mask, an inflatable mattress, etc.
- A new packaging design, with a round and modern shape, leaving no traces of the old brand identity.
- 8 successful advertising spots thanks to the 3 million euros the company is convinced to invest, even after previously cutting ad spend.
- 2 flagship products as a result of the co-branding initiative with the best-suited brands and a two-year innovation pipeline with three more future references.
All of these actions don’t go unnoticed and impact the brand in the form of:
- A boost to the TOP3 of children’s favorite brands.
- +4 percentage points in global market penetration
- Of this increase, 58% is thanks to new consumers of the brand
- + 7 pp in target penetration
- 150% growth in social media (fan base and engagement)
- 3% sales volume increase
- 10% more brand value
- +4 pp of market share
- Revenue from the campaign amounting to 5M€
Finally, to stay in the loop regarding new and upcoming trends that may be of interest to such a dynamic and changing target as children are, and make good use of them to detect potential opportunities, the client decides to launch studies on an ongoing basis (weekly during the first 6 months after the target change).
Conclusion
In conclusion, this case study highlights the effectiveness of a well-crafted brand repositioning strategy that takes into account the evolving needs of the target market. By using real-time insights, marketing professionals can identify pain points and tailor their communication approach accordingly, resulting in increased market penetration, brand value, and revenue. This case study is a testament to the power of smart insights in creating a successful marketing campaign and sustaining long-term growth. As the market landscape continues to evolve, ongoing studies and adaptability will be key to staying ahead of the curve and identifying new opportunities for products or services innovation.
